Cool new way to fund dreams. Starting here. Now.

Eric Avner of People's Liberty takes photos of the progress of its future office space. People's Liberty, a brainchild of the Haile Foundation, will issue a series of grants and support to help people with ideas to help the city.
(Photo:
The Enquirer/Cara Owsley
)

People's Liberty hopes to change the city, to make the region a better and more interesting place. The idea behind this philanthropic experiment – perhaps adventure is a better word – is to invest in place by investing in people.

Each year, two applicants will receive $100,000 grants to quit their jobs and chase their dreams. There will also be smaller sums of money given to make art, or solve problems, or just create a singular moment.

The hope is that these people will then become a new generation of inspired and engaged civic leaders.

It will be a great success. Or a fascinating failure.

Smart money is on success because People's Liberty is the brainchild of the Haile Foundation and the Johnson Foundation, two organizations with a history of local accomplishments.

"What we are doing is looking for civic rock stars," said Jake Hodesh, vice president of Operations for People's Liberty, which will launch in January.

"Think of this as localized genius grants. A way to give people the help they need to do what they have always wanted to do to transform this place."

This is a different way to give, a fresh way to make a difference in a changing world. Philanthropy it seems needs a new paradigm and it will start here.

"We're betting on people," said Eric Avner, the CEO of People's Liberty. "We are going to empower a lot of people to become engaged. It will be an incubator."

The application process for grants will begin soon and People's Liberty will run out of the Globe Building on Elm Street across from Findlay Market. That location was intentional, an effort to continue momentum going north of Liberty. There will be events there and other programs.

Haile Fellowships will be awarded annually to local innovators who have identified a major challenge and have an ambitious plan for addressing it. These are the $100,000 grants.

Project Grants will be given for projects that increase civic engagement and drive community development. These grants will be up to $10,000.

Globe Grants will be awarded for provocative art installations and pop-up experiences at the People's Liberty Elm Street storefront.

People's Liberty will not simply cut a check to a recipient and ask him or her to report back later on how they did. The foundation will provide a work place, support staff and expertise on how to get things done in the business community or through local government.

"We will start with things they are passionate about, and then they learn how to do things and then they tell their friends," Avner said. "It's a civic accelerator. A lab. An incubator."

And People's Liberty will make sure that all voices are heard – not just young and not just the highly educated.

"This is not going to be a playhouse for the hip," Avner said. "We will talk to everybody. We will listen to everybody. We will do it with intention."

These are not large checks written to opera houses, zoos or museums, all of which have great civic value. These are smaller investments directly to people in order to make a place better and is not the normal way grants are issued. This effort will be watched closely by people involved in philanthropy across the country.

Carol Coletta is the vice president of Community and National Initiatives at the Knight Foundation, which has been around since 1940 and has an endowment of $2 billion. She says societal changes have changed the way philanthropy needs to work.

"Two generations ago, people joined civic clubs and Elks Clubs and Rotary clubs as part of their ordinary lives," Coletta said. But people have stopped joining like they used to. "People are on the outside, maybe by choice, but they are outside. They still have ideas, and they still want to help."

Individuals with ideas do represent some risk, so smaller grants make more sense to a philanthropic organization. "This is a device now to make smaller bets, that feels more like a logical portfolio," Coletta said.

But the real beauty of an organization like People's Liberty might be the community it forms and the gathering place for that community.

"It provides a center of gravity for those people to find each other and to help each other," Coletta said. "It's back to storytelling. We are all looking for a campfire to sit around and tell our stories. People's Liberty will provide that campfire."

Sometimes, all an idea needs is a moderate amount of support, said Amy Goodwin, of the Johnson Foundation and a co-founder of People's Liberty.

"There are so many people with so many great ideas on how to make this a better place," Johnson said. "But they don't have the resources – now they will."

Ideally, there will then be a community of civic activists, then a group of alumni who know how to get things done and then they can start to work together.

If they can take some calculated risks, all the better. Timothy J. Maloney is the president and chief executive officer of the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation which, since its inception in 2009, has been supporting causes in Greater Cincinnati the now-deceased Hailes were most passionate about: arts and culture, community development, education, and human services.

The Haile Foundation is a heavy hitter, issuing grants in excess of $8.5 million in 2013. People's Liberty, though, will be smaller and more intimate. This foundation will award $1.1 million per year, providing money and some residencies to a total of 33 people. The plan is to operate for just the next five years.

Money to allow people to take a chance and see if an idea might work would be of great appeal to both Hailes, said Maloney, who knew them well. The couple made their fortune with a bank: Peoples Liberty Bank in Northern Kentucky.

"It kind of emulates the way Ralph lived," Maloney said. "He was an advocate for the little guy. He would take risks for people and opportunities." ■

People's Liberty

To learn more about People's Liberty and application deadlines (soon) and everything else you might need to know, go to the following places: